I'm a student currently studying at Windmill Lane Recording Studios in Ireland. I don't actually know how to read music or much of the theory, but I have a good ear (I think) and have been producing a good few tunes the last year or so.

off the top of my head, i'd say that Strongsauce might be too heavily compressed - there's a slightly odd swelling feeling.

the best thing you can do for yourself if you are an aspiring composer is to get your hands on some theoretical material and study it. you'll learn faster if you also apply those concepts to tunes that you compose.

Compression, in my very unscientific terms, is a process by which you limit the loudness of audio, so it squashes anything that goes above a specified threshold. This allows the track to have a more "even" volume throughout.

The swelling feeling has to do with the attack/release settings of your compressor. The initial attack may be dampened by the compressor, but on sustained notes this can lead to a perception that the audio is "swelling". Sorry i'm terrible at explaining this. If you didn't use a compressor plugin then maybe the instrument you're using already has compression written into the program.

I agree with xiaoan about the compression. I felt this happened on all those parts in "My Favourites" that have drums.

I have a good thing to say: I like the fact you create short ideas and explore that. It's a good thing, even if someone says "it's repetitive sometimes" (and sometimes i felt it is), but I garantee you it's a good thing. Anyone who learns to explore short musical ideas, becomes great composer. But it takes time, praticing a lot, listening a lot, and learning a lot.

Besides the compression thing, the only comment (and I wouldn't even call it "negative") is that I couldn't figure out some of the variations in the songs. I think you focus on variation of notes (or phrases) when it's more efective to focus on "mood" variations (or climatic variations).

I might be saying a lot of crap.
Its difficult to me to express in english. But I think you have talent. Don't waste it ignoring all the stuff it's there for us to absorve. Go study, go listen, go learn. (-:

Hey! I agree about the compression. To me, it sounds like you've applied compression with overly harsh settings. You hear the punch of the snare drum for example, and some milliseconds later, the rest of the song is audibly squashed to a lower level in a really sudden way. Try a longer attack, higher threshold, or a soft knee.

Your composition seems decent for someone who doesn't know any theory. You might find you've worked some common scales out for yourself already. I think you ought to focus on groove if you intend to read up on any theory, seeing as you have the notes covered. That would mean looking into how to use triplets, or shuffles effectively.

In my ears, it still lacks the "Oomph" you're aiming for, though - for a number of reasons, including sound choice, arrangement and overall suspense and dynamics.

What usually helps me in those cases is doing an A-B comparison with a track that goes in a similar direction. Ask yourself these questions:- Are my synth and drum sounds up to par?- How did the other producer arrange the track to make it sound gripping and dynamic?- Am I doing too much at some point in the track? Are sounds competing for attention?

Try not to apply compression and EQ willy-nilly, read up on some stuff and give it an almost engineering-like approach, at least for practice.For example, a lot of "Thump" and "Oomph" can be achieved by applying some good old side-chain compression. (Synths getting ducked by the kick)Try to use sound shaping tools in moderation, especially if you're not too sure what you're doing yet. If the EQs on all of your tracks look like roller coaster rides, you've probably made the wrong timbre and arrangement choices to begin with. By the way, how is your monitoring situation? Can you actually check the low frequencies reliably?

If terms come up that you don't understand - like triplets and shuffle - Google those, try to apply them to something you're working on, and come back with more specific questions.